Dow rises on hopes for 'fiscal cliff' deal

Chronicle News Services

Updated 9:25 pm, Monday, December 31, 2012

Photo: Seth Wenig, Associated Press

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A trader wearing holiday glasses works on the New York Stock Exchange floor on Monday. The market struggled for direction, then rose at a fleeting moment of hope for a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

A trader wearing holiday glasses works on the New York Stock Exchange floor on Monday. The market struggled for direction, then rose at a fleeting moment of hope for a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

Photo: Seth Wenig, Associated Press

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The Chicago Tribune building is the emblem of the Tribune Co., which has emerged from Chapter 11.

The Chicago Tribune building is the emblem of the Tribune Co., which has emerged from Chapter 11.

Photo: M. Spencer Green, Associated Press

Dow rises on hopes for 'fiscal cliff' deal

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STOCKS

'Fiscal cliff' hopes lift Dow

The stock market shot higher Monday in the year's final hour of trading, signaling that investors had hopes that a federal budget compromise to avoid the "fiscal cliff" would be achieved.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 166 to end at 13,104 Monday. It had waffled through much of the morning, then shot higher at midday on signs that a budget deal was close. The Dow was coming off five straight days of losses. For the year, it gained 7 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 23 to end the year at 1,426, a gain of 13 percent for the year. The Nasdaq composite index rose 59 to 3,019, up 14 percent for the year.

PUBLISHING

Tribune exits bankruptcy

Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and six other daily newspapers, has emerged from bankruptcy, four years after a doomed leveraged buyout by billionaire Sam Zell led to Chapter 11 proceedings.

Distributions to creditors have been initiated, the Chicago company said Monday. As part of its exit from bankruptcy, Tribune Co. also closed on a new $1.1 billion loan and a $300 million revolving credit line.

In addition to eight daily newspapers, Tribune Co. owns 23 television stations and stakes in more than 50 websites.

ENERGY

2012 gas prices set record

U.S. motorists paid record high prices for gasoline in 2012 as severe weather and political tensions drove up the cost of fuel.

The national average price of gasoline in 2012 was $3.60 per gallon, 9 cents more than the previous record set last year, said AAA, the nation's largest motoring group.

Prices touched $3.94 per gallon on April 5 and 6 after sanctions were placed on Iran. Prices sank as low as $3.22 per gallon on Dec. 20 amid lower demand and higher supply in winter, when motor fuel faces looser emissions regulations.

Hawaii, Alaska and California were the three most expensive states, while South Carolina, Missouri and Mississippi were the cheapest.

TECHNOLOGY

Amazon sorry for service lapse

Amazon.com has apologized for a Dec. 24 disruption in its cloud-computing services that hindered Netflix customers from watching movies, and said it is taking steps to prevent a recurrence.

Netflix said last week that many users in the Americas were unable to access online content on Christmas Eve because of an outage caused by Amazon's Web storage and computing system. Amazon didn't identify Netflix in its statement, which was posted online on Dec. 29, according to spokeswoman Tera Randall.

Amazon, the largest online retailer, has billed its 6-year-old cloud-computing offering as a cheap and safe way for customers to outsource their data centers. It's estimated to have earned about $1.5 billion in revenue for Amazon in 2012.

TECHNOLOGY

Sanctions for Samsung

Samsung Electronics should post a bond equal to 88 percent of the value of smartphones found to infringe on Apple patents if it loses a U.S. trade ruling and wants to keep selling the devices, a judge has ruled.

Pender, in a recommendation posted Friday on the agency's website, said Samsung should face a ban on imports of the infringing products. Pender also specified bonds Samsung is to post if the full commission accepts his decision to ban imports and the company wants to keep selling the products during a 60-day period when President Obama could overturn the ban. The six-member trade commission is expected to finish its investigation by Feb. 25.